In the course of reviewing a standard operating procedure, I came across the subheading:
"Receival, Costing and Charging of Work".

I immediately began to doubt whether the word "receival" was a legitimate equivalent to the noun "receipt", as in: receipt of samples...

My gut feeling is that use of "receival" in place of the word "receipt", as above, is either outmoded/archaic, or entirely incorrect.

Several Google searches of the word tend to confirm my suspicion that "receival" is used very rarely these days, and generally only occurs as a noun modifier. (For example: receival bin, receival limits, Grain Receival Standards.)

Am I correct in assuming that "receival" should not be used as a post-qualified* noun, such as in: receival of work?

*(I just made up that compound adjective; feel free to correct me if you are aware of the proper term.)

It sounds strange to me to. In my consulting work, I've only ever seen the word receiving (as in "Shipping and Receiving"), which would match the other gerunds nicely.
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Kit Z. Fox♦Jun 23 '11 at 11:58

The example I just came across was in a letter from a City Council i.e food receival temperatures.
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user27094Oct 9 '12 at 3:35

1

Many businesses in Australia have Reception, Receival and Despatch departments Where Reception is where people are received (Main Office)<BR> Receival is where goods are received (In-ward goods Warehouse)<BR> and Despatch is where goods are Despatched. (Out-ward goods Warehouse)
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RichardMar 28 '13 at 6:36

Agree with the Australian comments. Receival seems quite appropriate here in Australia for the receiving of goods. But my spell checker keeps highlighting it as an error.
Some of my examples
- Goods receival dock
- Recival of equipment

15 years experience in the Australian logistics industry has given me significant exposure to the words Receival and Receivals, with the meaning as being the act of receiving goods into a warehouse (receival), and the place (Receivals) where goods are to be delivered within a warehouse.

I would adamantly assert that this word is from the Australian dialect of English language, with the need for such a term arising from the differing definition of the term Receipt, which refers to the paperwork that documents the transaction that occurs to the goods upon receival.

I suspect that it was originally a term used in Civil Law, most likely from the English Maritime Law of the sea, as most warehouse terms in Australia are.

I can only speak from my own experience here, but it's common for a warehouse in Australia to use "receival slips" which show a record of the receipt of goods. A Google search on the word "receival" tends to reveal it's usage on many Australian websites too.

In Australia receipt tends to refer to the physical slip of paper you'd get after buying something, whereas receival refers to the action of receiving. ie. "Upon receival of the item you will be supplied with a receipt".

As noted already, receipt and reception are both good options. However, I think there's an interesting distinction to point out between these two.

Reception seems to imply some sort of action taken in order to receive something. The two examples that come to mind are football, where it means the act of catching the ball, and its usage as a synonym for reaction, as in, "the new book got a negative reception."

Receipt, on the other hand, just means the simple event of receiving something.

Receival is not considered correct by the dictionaries I have at hand (note that it is easily understood, though). I would rather go with reception, receiving, receipt (though the meaning of “invoice” is more common for this one, which could make it unclear), delivery or arrival.